EARTHCACHE REQUIREMENTS
Each cacher must send his/her own answers BEFORE logging a find. Enjoy the journey (learning adventure) as well as the destination (smiley earned). Remember to take only pictures and leave only footprints. To get credit for this Earthcache, complete the following tasks:
SPELEOTHEMS
For each of the speleothems you encounter, describe them -and- identify them based on where they are growing.
1. MESSAGE …. CATHEDRAL ROOM ... a. Describe/Identify the "Cardross Castle". ... b. Describe/Identify the "Ice-capped Mountains". ... c. Describe/Identify the "Temple Bells". ... d. Is this a wet room or a dry room?
2. MESSAGE …. LAKE ROOM ... a. Describe/Identify the “Hanging Gardens of King Solomon” ... b. Is this a wet room or a dry room?
3. MESSAGE …. FROZEN CASCADES ROOM ... a. Describe/Identify the waterfall formations. ... b. Compare the limestone you see here with the limestone in the other two rooms. ... c. Is this a wet room or a dry room?
WATERFALL
4. MESSAGE …. Based on the reading, what two factors are required for a subterranean waterfall to form?
5. MESSAGE …. Based on your observations, What evidence do you see that indicates a vertical joint allowed the formation of this subterranean waterfall?
LOG …. Post a picture of you or your signature item anywhere along the tour. This picture is your log signature.
OPTIONAL - Please respect the time and effort involved in creating this earthcache by adding A and B to your log.
A. JOURNEY OF THE MIND ... Science explains what we observe. Relate (in your own words) something you found interesting in the reading. This adds to your learning adventure and your log.
B. JOURNEY OF THE HEART ... Art shares our personal experience of what we see. Share something special you found on site, and why it is special to you. This is a memorable addition to your log and will make other hearts smile.
Journeys of Heart and Mind ...
Stories to Touch the Heart and Puzzles to Challenge the Mind / Rainbow Tree Story
This was one of my most memorable cave experiences.
1. As part of the tour, we walked outside from one part of the cave to another part of the cave. It was lightly raining and felt like I was passing through a magical otherworldly rainforest. Awesome!
2. Our veteran tour guide asked the group if they would like an added adventure not part of the tour. Yikes! That was as close to spelunking (minus the crawling) that this terrain-challenged senior ever wants to experience again. First had to get down the cliff to the rocks below. OK, it was only a few feet but seemed like a cliff. Then there were all the challenges to negotiate. Others were oohing while I was watching my step. Finally we walked millimeters next to a pool of water over sandy substrate. One slip and into the water I would go. Depth unknown - and I don't swim! Yep, that was my first and hopefully last experience with venturing off the beaten path.
THANK YOU Chris Perry (Park Manager) and Robert Myers (State Park Naturalist) for permission to share this learning adventure. ... Your permit for the earthcache “Cascade Cave” is 19103CCSRP
CAVE
This is the most popular cave, but also the most challenging in terms of length and terrain (lots of stairs). However, it is also the cave with the greatest variety of speleothems. "It is cut from the Warix Run Member of the Slade Formation. The cavern itself is made up of a series of parallel passages that are filled with dripstone formations of different types. The large size of the passages suggests that they formed along a series of bedding planes and vertical joints. The entrance to Cascade Cave is located along one of the many sinkholes in the area, just north and west of Box Canyon."
WET CAVE vs DRY CAVE
Speleothems are receiving water and so are still growing. There is no longer a water source in a dry cave, so speleothems are no longer growing.
SPELEOTHEMS
Speleothems are predominantly limestone formations found in caves. They take various forms, depending on whether the water drips, seeps, condenses, flows, or ponds. ... As you journey through this cave, you will see a variety of cave formations.
CEILING - Stalactites are pointed pendants. / Soda straws are thin and long. / Helictites have a central canal with spiral projections. / Chandeliers are complex clusters.
FLOOR - Stalagmites are blunt mounds. / Broomsticks are tall and spindly. / Totem poles are tall and shaped like their namesakes.
COLUMNS - Form when stalactites and stalagmites meet or when stalactites reach the floor.
WALLS - Flowstone is sheetlike. / Draperies or curtains are thin, wavy sheets. / Bacon is a drapery with variously colored bands. / Rimstone dams form barriers that may contain water. / Stone waterfalls simulate frozen cascades. / Popcorn (cave coral) is small, knobby clusters of calcite.
CATHEDRAL ROOM
This room formed beneath several sinkholes, which conduct surface water into cracks. The water seeping into cracks leading to the Cathedral Room has resulted in the formation of a variety of dripstone formations over the years. It is reached by taking a short path to the base of a large limestone cliff.
FROZEN CASCADES ROOM
The speleothems here are a series of small travertine “waterfalls” giving this room its name." It occurs along a narrow passage that is aligned along a joint fracture." Travertine rock is a type of limestone commonly deposited by mineral springs through a process of rapid precipitation of carbonate minerals.
LAKE ROOM
This room is named for a large reflecting pool of water. The room is located at the intersection of two joints which act as a conduit for groundwater. "As active groundwater ran down these joints, they were enlarged. Water from James Branch enters the lake along a lower-level passage and exits the cave system through a small opening along the base of the northeast wall. It then makes its way to Tygarts Creek."
ROCK-WATER RELATIONSHIP
Water is necessary for speleothems to form. The nature of the cave formation depends on whether the water drips, seeps, condenses, flows, or ponds.
SUBTERRANEAN WATERFALLS
Subterranean waterfalls occur where there are two factors present.
1. There needs to be vertical geological structures (joints) for the weathering process.
2. There needs to be a sufficient gradient for the water to plunge.
CASCADE CAVE SUBTERRANEAN WATERFALL
""Water, flowing along a bedding plane, has been diverted downward through a vertical joint and cascades nearly 35 ft into a plunge basin below. The water eventually flows into James Branch, which is now an underground stream within the Cascade Cave system. Over the years this joint plane has been gradually enlarged and sculpted by the flow/solution of water over its surface."
RESOURCES
https://kycarter.com/the_original_peoples/geology_tour.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speleothem
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speleothem#/media/File:Labeled_speleothems.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subterranean_waterfall
http://www.worldreviewer.com/info/10-most-incredible-cave-waterfalls-on-earth.html